Denniston — Family Name, Records and Arms

If your family name is Denniston, its origin lies with Dennison, an English surname. The name is generally explained as “Son of Dennis”.

Denniston coat of arms

Arms linked to Dennison and its spellings were granted to individual families; our heraldry team traces which line they belonged to.

A variant of Dennison

Before spelling was fixed, Dennison was also written Denniston. Local scribes, dialects and emigration all left their mark on how the name was written. You may also find the name written Denison and Denson.

According to the 2010 US Census, the Denniston surname had 2,058 bearers. It sits within the 25,000 most common last names in the country. Want more than a summary? See the Denniston family name pack.